WHITE 



Maianthemum Canadense. Lily Family. 



Stem. Three to six inches high, with two or three leaves. Leaves. 

 Lance-shaped to oval, heart-shaped at base. F lowers. White or straw- 

 color, growing in a raceme. Perianth. Four-parted. Stamens. Four. 

 Pistil. One, with a two-lobed stigma. Fruit. A red berry. 



It seems unfair that this familiar and pretty little plant should 

 be without any homely English name. Its botanical title signi- 

 fies "Canada Mayflower," but while it undoubtedly grows in 

 Canada and flowers in May, the name is not a happy one, for it 

 abounds as far south as North Carolina, and is not the first blos- 

 som to be entitled ' ' Mayflower. ' ' 



In late summer the red berries are often found in close prox- 

 imity to the fruit of the shin-leaf and pipsissewa. 



GOLD THREAD. 



Coptis trifolia. Crowfoot Family. 



Scape. Slender, three to five inches high. Leaves. Evergreen, shining, 

 divided into three leaflets. Flowers. Small, white, solitary. Calyx. Of 

 five to seven petal-like sepals which fall early. Corolla. Of five to seven 

 club-shaped petals. Stamens. Fifteen to twenty-five. Pistils. Three to 

 seven. Root. Of long, bright yellow fibres. 



This little plant abundantly carpets the northern bogs and 

 extends southward over the mountains, its tiny flowers appear- 

 ing in May. Its bright yellow thread-like roots give it its 

 common name. 



PYXIE. FLOWERING -MOSS. 



Pyxidanthera barbulata. Order Diapensiacea. 



Stems. Prostrate and creeping, branching. Leaves. Narrowly lance- 

 shaped, awl-pointed. Flowers. White or pink, small, numerous. Calyx. 

 Of five sepals. Corolla. Five-lobed. Stamens. Five. Pistil. One, 

 with a three-lobed stigma. 



In early spring we may look for the white flowers of this 

 moss-like plant in the sandy pine-woods of New Jersey and 

 southward. At Lake wood they appear even before those of the 

 trailing arbutus which grows in the same localities. The gen- 

 eric name is from two Greek words which signify a small box 

 and anther ; and refers to the anthers, which open as if by a lid. 



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